.The new single by The Midnight Greetings is hypnotic bedroom pop that’s also potent bedroom fodder (wink nudge).
The last time we heard from Kyle Maraton, he was laying a hypnotic, M.C. Escher-style trip on us via “If Time is a Luxury.” I was piqued by that tack, to tell you the truth, because apart from having taken a prolonged break from our dials and radars, that sound is a make-or-break proposition that puts a heavy wager on the strength of a melody.
And the man who goes by The Midnight Greetings is, if nothing else, a man of melody.
Except, unlike fans of labyrinthine tunesmithery in the manner of, say, XTC, The Jam, or even Attractions-era Costello, Maraton only cares to sniff out the rarest truffle of a tune, turn it on its head, and have it on display ad infinitum.
In short, he’s more an exuberant slice-of-lifer than a grand architect. After all, if you think about it, the test of a good tune is if it can be endured on a loop in an elevator (or elsewhere equally constricting).
That’s what “If Time” accomplished, and that’s what his new single “On My Mind” is reclaiming anew, but now with more major-seventh, acid-jazz-spiked-with-RnB, “business time” flavor.
Maraton has no grand pronouncements about the single, saying it’s simply a stab at doing “something casual and common,” on top of being an exploration of his skills in musical production. But that’s really modesty at play: with “On My Mind” he’s laying ear candy most studio-bound overthinkers can only dream of churning.
TMG is clearly a sound draftsman with a saintly ear for the hummable, and I hope he keeps at it. Fans of Josh Fudge and babychair would be tickled pink by the overlaps, but we at Lilystars think Maraton is a true original.
Spin “On My Mind” over candlelight, preferably with fine company.